THE CRUMBLING roof of an historic Leamington church has been repaired.
Damaged slates, dry rotting timbers, and poor guttering had left the roof on All Saints Parish Church in desperate need of work.
But thanks to a donation of £110,000 from The Listed Place of Worship Roof Repair Fund, and additional cash boosts coming from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Warwickshire & Coventry Historic Churches Trust, All Churches Trust, and individual gifts and loans, the South Aisle of the Priory Terrace church has undergone extensive work.
And to mark the completion of the £157,000 project, the Bishop of Coventry, the Rt Revd Dr Christopher Cocksworth, will re-dedicate the roof at a parish communion service on September 4 from 10.30am.
Leamington Mayor Ann Morrison will join Revd Cocksworth, townspeople, and friends of the church at the service open to all.
All Saints’ vicar, Fr Christopher Wilson, said: “We are delighted this part of our lovely historic church has been repaired.
“I’d like thank the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund and other donors and invite people to join with us on September 4 to celebrate this milestone.”
A report published at the end of 2015 identified the Victorian church needed some £6.8million of repairs in total and with no central church maintenance pot to pay for the work, a Friends of All Saints’ Parish Church group was set up to help raise the cash through grant applications and fund-raising drives.
Fr Wilson added: “Now this project is complete, we shall begin work on a major grant application for further repairs. We are also working with the Friends, other groups and individuals on a number of projects.
“These include the repair of the clock, the regeneration of the churchyard, the refurbishment of the Lady Chapel, and the repair of historic textiles.
“We are grateful to all the individuals and organisations which make this possible through gifts, legacies, and grants and extend our wholehearted thanks to them all.”
As one of England’s largest parish churches – the earliest record of it dates back to the 12th century – All Saints rivals many cathedrals in size.
With its Gothic-style architecture, the eminent art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described it as “a church as out of the ordinary for scale as for style.”
